MUMBAI: In a first-of-its-kind initiative by a fibre producer, Aditya Birla Cellulose is grooming fashion advisors, who will engage with consumers in retail stores across the country.
The move, which is in line with the government’s Skill India programme, intends to train about 300-400, 12th standard girls aged 17 to 20 and train them with skills to create awareness about the fabric, designs, styles and other elements. The company has currently tied up four large-format stores namely — Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Central and Reliance Trends — who will absorb them after the training period. The first batch includes 267 girls along with 35 supervisors cherry-picked from across 30 cities and are being placed in 251 stores across the country.
“We have hired an agency to train them on finer aspects of how to engage with consumers. They, along with supervisors, will be in the market for 45-60 days and will then be placed in retail outlets after that,” Manohar Samuel, president (marketing & business development), Aditya Birla Cellulose told Express. He added that every season the company has plans to groom about 300-400 fashion designers.
The company’s Liva brand of fabric, which was launched in March 2015, is now being used by over 30 women apparel brands like W, Biba and Auerlia. As per its consumer survey, around 97 per cent women are believed to like the bio-degradable cellulose fabric. It is one of the world’s largest makers of viscose fibre, which is also used by multinational brands like H&M and Marks & Spencers.
“As a business, we firmly believe that consumer drives consumption and there are insights from consumers, which need to be taken though he may be five steps back in the value chain,” reasoned Samuel.Currently, Liva has presence in five categories like sarees, stoles, knitted tops, leggings and lounge wear and could soon be expanded to other product categories.